Guild of Our Own
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Sometimes, Mirajane doesn't mind the storm. - One-shot.


The rainfall outside had a torrential aspect to it, which always brought a new dynamic around the bar. Such weather on its own was rather dreary, typically evoking the desire to do little more than find somewhere warm to escape it, but when you added in the risk of flooding and the thunder that accompanied it, hunkering down in the warm spot you found was most favorable.

Mirajane found this to typically meant that whoever was at the bar when the storm kicked up would probably stick around for the duration while those who might come in at a later time regularly found it best to stay away for the day. This could either prove to be good entertainment, should those trapped be some of her more typical cohorts, or a rather sour time, should this not be the case. With the rapid growth the guildhall had experienced in the past year or so, Mirajane found that, while she did enjoy meeting new people and discovering things about them, those she wasn't as close with began to greatly outnumber the alternate. As the flood of members caused jobs to become in an even higher demand, everyone seemed to be gone every chance they got and so was the case, it felt, that during that late season thunder storm.

"It's really coming down," Lucy remarked as she sat up at the bar, keeping Mirajane company as she snuggled her summoned spirit, Plue, in her lap. "I wonder when it'll finally stop."

The celestial mage originally arrived at the hall hoping to snag a solo job, but the prospects looked bleak and, once the weather turned, she found it better to sulk at the hall for the day. As Happy and Natsu seemed absent, no doubt spending the storm trying to find adequate pots to put under the man holes in their roof, and Erza had been away for a good number of weeks, on some S-Class job on the other side of the kingdom, Levy became Lucy's only hope for company that day. If the sulking Gajeel in the corner told her anything though, it was that the letter mage more than likely wouldn't be around for the day.

He went through much larger leaps to improve his mood, when expecting her.

"I dunno," Mira hummed as she stood behind the bar, rubbing absently with a rag at the bar top. "I kind of like the feel of it."

"The feel of what?"

"Today," she answered with a smile. "Today just has a good feel to it."

"If you say so," Lucy relented without much of a fight as Plue, from her lap, only nodded his head in agreement with the barmaid. "It's been pretty boring overall."

"Sometimes boring is good," Mira insisted though, usually, this would be far from her ideal day.

Though most would loathe the drama haven that cultivated around the guildhall and thus left Mirajane with the hectic job of either corralling it or cleaning up the aftermath, she found the chaos a welcome distraction, in the months following her sister's untimely supposed passing conjoined with the loss of her power. It made working the bar less of drawn out, mindless work and more akin to what she was used to, when she was out working jobs. Now, the distraction wasn't only welcome, but rather craved. It was the norm.

So it was odd, to say the least, for Lucy to see her seemingly relishing in the relative stillness.

It wasn't like she had much time to linger on the thought though. It was around that time that the guildhall doors open as thunder crackled over head and wind, now given an entry point, ripped into the hall with no reserve, rustling the posters on the request board and blowing anything not weighted on the nearby tables. This brought some grumbles from those around as some drops of rain came roaring in as well, but the sight of the person who was willing to brave such a storm pretty much shut complaints down before they got too far.

"Laxus! You're drenched."

Freed was one of those who'd found himself trapped in the hall that day, missing the already departed Evergreen and missing out on Bickslow possibly showing up. Which was no matter, in those days. He no longer only spent his days with the two of them. No. Now he also attempted to assist the many lower members with anything they might need. Many who were brave enough to approach a man of such esteem were greeted to someone who knew much about a broad scope of magic, given his rune spells led him down many interesting rabbit holes. He was actually very busy imparting some of his knowledge on one such member that afternoon, but abandoned it without thought, the second he saw his idol there, water literally dripping from his person.

"Yeah," was what he got grumbled in reply to his worry though as Laxus looked less than pleased to be standing in a puddle of his own making. "I know."

While the man's most faithful of followers fretted over his state, Lucy only made a face over at the bar.

"He'll be in a bad mood," she muttered mostly to Plue who agreed with that as well, nodding his head up at the woman as, given the chill in the air from the door being opened, he cuddled closer into her lap for warmth.

"What makes you say that?" Mira asked with a giggle though her eyes were on the slayer then. "It's just a little water."

"All over the huge, fuzzy coat he wears," Lucy pointed out. Then she sighed once more, it not being lost on her just how boring the day was, to be discussing Laxus Dreyar of all people.

But Mira seemed very concerned with him, or at least was trying to be helpful, as she usually was. It made sense, anyways, given it would be her job to clean up the mess he'd brought in with him.

"Here's a towel, Laxus," she announced when, after rushing off to find one, she returned to the man with a bright smile. It was returned from the grateful Freed, but the man in question only leveled his glare on her. But Mira only smiled brighter at the sight, adding, "You really should have timed your day better. You'll catch a cold, at this rate."

He grumbled something under his breath as Freed nodded along with the woman, but after a beat, Laxus remarked in a louder voice, "I need somewhere to hang my coat."

"Oh, of course," Mirajane was quick to say, turning off then to lead him to the back. "Here, follow me. If Natsu was around, he could just flame it for you, you know? Flash dry it."

"I really don't think that would be a good idea," Freed tried, but it didn't matter anyways; not only was the other slayer not around, there was no way that Laxus would ever let him get close enough to try anyhow.

Their chatter, anyways, seemed to annoy Laxus as Freed followed he and Mirajane to the back hallway, where a coat rack stood, no doubt for the waitstaff mostly. Left in the front of the hall, it would more than likely find itself being used as a weapon in the never-ending member disputes rather than for it's intended purpose.

As Laxus slipped the by then super heavy, soggy mess of a coat from his shoulders, Freed only volunteered himself to go up to the infirmary to see if there was something for the slayer to change in to, given he was just as soaked beneath the garment.

Mira doubted the success of this venture and Laxus had no intention on putting any gross article of clothing the man found lying about anyways, but both let the other man head off on his fruitless search all the same.

The second he disappeared around a corner though, Mirajane was quick to reach out and take the towel from Laxus, moving to run it down his face as the man only gave her something of a smirk.

"Your coat," she remarked, "is gonna take forever to dry out, you know."

"I know."

"You'll probably," Mirajane went on as she leaned up then, so that she could run the towel over his golden locks, "have to stick around for awhile. Wait it out."

"Probably," he agreed, making a face when, finished with the towel, she threw it with no ceremony down to the ground and reached out instead to slip her hands between the wet fabric of his shirt and his taught stomach, the cotton sticking a bit as she pushed it up.

"And I mean, even then, maybe even til close."

"Or maybe," he agreed, allowing her to push his shirt up, "even later."

"I mean, it's awfully soaked."

"Mirajane."

"Hmm?"

But he didn't finish his thought, or perhaps he had and that was it. She felt like a full thought, anyways, as she beamed up at him as, his chest free of the shirt, she only rested her palms against it, smiling much softer now, up at him, given they were alone, and he felt more easy, giving it right back to her.

"I have to get back to work," she remarked simply as she turned to at least attempt to hang his shirt on the rack too, but he didn't see it as getting very dry that way.

Still, reaching down to grab the towel, he nodded at the woman as he said, "I'mma head to the bathhouse. Clean up in there. I'll stick around though. After."

"'kay," she sighed after him, but couldn't offer up much else as there was a shout then, for her, from the bar area. Something about a refill. And the slayer had managed to track mud all about now and, with Lisanna and Kinana not in that day, it would be up to her to clean it up. Mostly to herself, she added, "You know where I'll be."

He did.

It was the whole reason he braved the storm.

He would tell her as much, later in the evening, when the storm faded and people finally were able to escape back into their routine schedule. It would have to wait as, first, he would be bombarded by Evergreen and Bickslow arriving to gripe at Freed some because, clearly, he'd planned to get Laxus stuck up at the hall and therefore all to himself (oh, the man could be so lucky to have such foresight) and Mirajane would loose Lucy to the arrival of Natsu and Happy, but then spend the rest of the night halfheartedly working and mostly joking around with her younger sister.

Eventually though, as the hall cleared out and Laxus tricked the Thunder Legion into ditching off, just the three of them, he went back to retrieve his coat and shirt while Mirajane ushered the final stragglers out of the door.

"We should build a guild," he grumbled as, alone at last, he slid into a stool at the bar as she went around, doing final closing duties, "for just the two of us. None of these others. Just you and me. By ourselves."

Mira hummed some, hardly glancing up from the register as she closed out for the night.

"That's called marriage, I think, dragon," she offered as he choked some, on the beer she'd slid him.

"Then let's not do that," he said around his cough, but Mira only smiled down at the jewels she was counting.

The day was long dead and the night was well on it's way there when they departed for the night, Mirajane wrapped up in his now dry fluffy coat, giggling softly as the man complained softly about having to take off in a few days, for another S-Class job.

"You mean you can't just come in everyday and watch me work from afar?" Mira complained as they arrived at his apartment for the night.

"Ain't that far."

"Far enough that I have to take you in the back to be alone with you."

"You took me in the back to feel me up," Laxus corrected before adding, "Violating me, felt like."

"You do it to me every time you trick me into going downstairs."

"Quit falling for me claiming Gramps, for some dumb reason, wants me and you to go do stock. Right that very second. Maybe then I'll stop."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe."

"If you have to go away," Mira yawned as he keyed into his door before taking a step back, allowing her entrance first, "then can we at least spend every single day until then doing that?"

"Taking stock? I dunno. People might start catching on."

"You coming into the hall," she corrected. "If you're going to go away, spend everyday with me. The most that we can, anyways."

It wasn't as if the man did every day, after all, though given she so rarely took days off, it very much so was daily for her.

"How come you think I came in today? Huh? Just to get drenched?"

Mirajane walked through his dark apartment with ease, shrugging off his coat onto the couch before disappearing into his bathroom, to get ready for bed. Before she closed the door though, she did reply, "It was a thunder storm. Did you just have to recharge?"

"I had to spend time with my demon," Laxus corrected, sounding quite official in his assessment as he stripped down, this time on his own, just to slide into his sheets and await her company. "It's how come I'll come in every day."

He wasn't sure if she heard him or not as, though the apartment was rather small, his voice felt much the same then as he wasn't too comfortable, not completely, with his declaration. When Mirajane finally joined him then, it was to fall into his chest and he griped, just a bit, though his arms tightened around her and he nuzzled the top of her head as they settled in for the night.

"One day," she told him softly, "we can tell everyone and it won't even be a big deal, I bet. Don't you think? Dragon?"

He just let out a sleepy sigh though as he remarked, "One day, we'll have our own guild. Just me and you."

Smiling, it was all Mira could do to nod before she drifted off.


End file.
